Dufourspitze

Dufourspitze
French: Pointe Dufour, Italian: Punta Dufour, Romansh: Piz da Dufour
From the peak to the southeast towards Italy, the Dunantspitze in the rear hides the 18-metre lower Grenzgipfel (English: Border Summit)
Highest point
Elevation4,634 m (15,203 ft)
Prominence2,165 m (7,103 ft) ↓ Great St Bernard Pass[1]
Ranked 7th in the Alps
Isolation78.3 km (48.7 mi) → M Blanc de Courmayeur[2]
ListingCountry high point
Canton high point
Ultra
Seven Second Summits
Coordinates45°56′12.6″N 7°52′01.4″E / 45.936833°N 7.867056°E / 45.936833; 7.867056
Naming
Native name
English translationPeak Dufour, Highest Peak, Large Horn
Geography
Dufourspitze is located in Switzerland
Dufourspitze
Dufourspitze
Location in Switzerland
Dufourspitze is located in Canton of Valais
Dufourspitze
Dufourspitze
Dufourspitze (Canton of Valais)
Dufourspitze is located in Alps
Dufourspitze
Dufourspitze
Dufourspitze (Alps)
CountrySwitzerland
CantonValais
Parent rangePennine Alps
Topo mapSwisstopo 1348 Zermatt
Climbing
First ascent1 August 1855 by Matthäus and Johannes Zumtaugwald, Ulrich Lauener, Christopher and James Smyth, Charles Hudson, John Birkbeck and Edward Stephenson.
Easiest routerock/snow/ice climb

The Dufourspitze is the highest peak of Monte Rosa, an ice-covered mountain massif in the Alps. Dufourspitze is the highest mountain of both Switzerland and the Pennine Alps and is also the second-highest mountain of the Alps and Western Europe, after Mont Blanc. It is located between Switzerland (Canton of Valais) and Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley). The peak itself is located wholly in Switzerland.

Following a long series of attempts beginning in the early nineteenth century, Monte Rosa's summit, then still called Höchste Spitze (English: Highest Peak), was first reached on 1 August, the Swiss National celebration day, in 1855 from Zermatt by a party of eight climbers led by three guides: Matthäus and Johannes Zumtaugwald, Ulrich Lauener, Christopher and James Smyth, Charles Hudson, John Birkbeck and Edward Stephenson.

  1. ^ Retrieved from the Swisstopo topographic maps. The key col is the Great St Bernard Pass (2,469 m)
  2. ^ Retrieved from Google Earth. The nearest point of higher elevation is east of Mont Blanc.